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Born: February 7, 1817 - Tuckahoe, Maryland
Died: February 20, 1895 - Washington, D.C.
| Excerpt from the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass |
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 was born in Tuckahoe, near Hillsborough, and about twelve miles from Easton, in Talbot county, Maryland. I have no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it. By far the larger part of the slaves know as little of their ages as horses know of theirs, and it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant. I do not remember to have ever met a slave who could tell of his birthday. They seldom come nearer to it than planting-time, harvest- time, cherry-time, spring-time, or fall-time. A want of information concerning my own was a source of unhappiness to me even during childhood.
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Teaching Topics in Social Studies
The Narrative focuses on the conditions of Douglass's SLAVERY and escape; part of his journey to FREEDOM
was on the UNDERGROUND RAILROAD. He devoted his whole life to fighting for freedom, especially the causes of ABOLITION and WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE. He was an advisor to ABRAHAM LINCOLN and helped to RECRUIT BLACK TROOPS during the CIVIL WAR. He fought for freedmen during RECONSTRUCTION. He devoted his life to PUBLIC SERVICE and had an ability to IMPACT EVENTS through a variety of means and from a variety of positions.
Teaching Topics in Language Arts
The Narrative relays a series of events
| Scavenger Hunt |
| What events forced Frederick Douglass to flee to preserve his freedom in 1859?
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from Douglass's early life from HIS POINT OF VIEW; it emphasizes PATHOS, and is ANALYTICAL of human nature and events often boiling observations down into memorable APHORISMS. Douglass gained great fame as an ORATOR, often excerpting parts of the Narrative in his SPEECHES.
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Facts About Frederick Douglass
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- When Frederick Baily escaped from slavery in 1838, he renamed himself after Lord James Douglas, the fictional hero of Sir Walter Scott's poem, "The Lady of the Lake"
- 5,000 copies of the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass were published in 1845
- The fame Douglass achieved when he published his Narrative jeopardized his freedom; under federal law he was a fugitive slave and could be seized
- Douglass published the first issue of the North Star, an abolitionist newspaper, in 1847
- He published three versions of his autobiography, the last in 1881, The Life and Times of Frederick Douglass
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